A COURT case has resumed in Brisbane to decide whether a mining company can access a Cape York wildlife reserve dedicated to the late crocodile hunter Steve Irwin.

QUEENSLAND Premier Anna Bligh says lawyers have provided all the necessary legal documents to extradite Dr Jayant Patel from the US, despite allegations of a police bungle.

AN empty, runaway truck has crashed into a house on the Gold Coast, and towing crews believe the house may collapse if the truck is dragged out.

A FORMER West Australian city councillor and financial adviser has been jailed on charges of defrauding investors of more than $1.5 million.

LIFE on Earth may have begun much earlier than the accepted date of about 3.5 billion years ago, according to a study of bacteria colonies near Australia's western tip.

AUSTRALIA'S richest woman, mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, is recovering in a Perth hospital after serious complications from a routine operation last week.

A WOMAN who has taken legal proceedings against controversial television personality Sam Newman says she has no plans to withdraw the action.

As far as I can tell, The Age hasn't even bothered to review this. Perhaps they think there's no point - people will turn up in droves regardless. And they should. This is a fine production of one of the

MELBOURNE scientists have uncovered the fossilised remains of the world's oldest mother.

A PERTH school has been evacuated after a gunman fired shots during a high speed pursuit by police.

A FUNERAL will be held in Perth tomorrow for three-year-old Imran Zilic, whose body was found in a mine shaft near the South Australian opal mining town of Coober Pedy.

A GUNMAN has been arrested after dozens of shots were fired in Perth's eastern suburbs.

THE Victorian Government has been given three options to modernise abortion laws in the state.

A GUNMAN hired by multiple murderer Carl Williams called the judge a "f dog" as his lengthy jail term was read out today.

A CLAIRVOYANT has been found guilty of the shooting murder of his lawyer.

A POLICEMAN who sought sexual favours from a female motorist in return for not giving her a fine preyed on his victim in a cold blooded way, a judge said today.

A MAN has died and another has been seriously injured in an ultralight plane crash north of Melbourne.

A POLICEMAN who sought sexual favours from a female motorist in return for waiving a traffic fine has been sentenced to nine months' prison.

FORMER boxer Evangelos Goussis has been found guilty of murdering underworld figure Lewis Moran.

PLANS for Tasmania's Tamar Valley pulp mill will proceed without funding from the ANZ bank, Gunns Ltd boss John Gay has said.